cheap ammo, whats the point?

[Low-Pressure]

the most expensive .22 ammo i can find is ELEY match, at about $.27 per round. i use wolf for about $.11 per round, and i see many people using federal bulk which comes to about $.04 per round.

what gets me is that the people using federal bulk are also bench resting their guns and using scopes. why?

i can see using bulk ammo if youre just going to throw as many rounds as you can, as fast as you can, at a tree stump or something, but why even attempt to shoot bulk ammo accurately? i did a small ammo comparison, and winchester grouped at about 6in at 50 yards, while wolf is at about the size of a dime, or smaller.

i understand that .22 is finicky with different guns, but the same people i see shooting bulk from bench rest are "grouping" like 8-10 inches at 50yds. so why not use better ammo?

if you are bench resting to see what your gun is capable of, you should be using good ammo to eliminate variables. if you are off hand shooting to see how good you are, you should be using good ammo to eliminate variables.

why even waste the money of going to the range if you arent there to improve you or your gun?

sorry, sort of a rant, but i would also like to know if im missing something and there actually is some benefit to buying the cheapest ammo i can find? (besides saving $35 on 500 rounds of ammo)

Why ask why, I think you are paying too much attention at what other people are doing........
It's their rifle, they can put what ever they want to it and shoot cheap or as expensive ammo if they want to.....
Have you ever heard the saying.........Mind Your Own Business!!!

[xibunkrlilkidsx]

because i dont go for purely just shooting a small hole in the paper......

id rather shoot 2,000rds of 22lr for $80, than 2000 rds of 22lr for $540.

its a 22. it used for shooting steel and small critters.
i like to sit back in my chair with a tasty beverage and plink at empty cans and steel plates with my 22lr and BS with friends and have a good time.

[Ubermcoupe]

I use the cheap stuff, and the other “not as cheap” stuff. I don’t really run into problems and the SW 617 puts 'em down range in good enough groups for me while standing...

[Izzy43]

I think you are drawing conclusions from a limited sample of data.

Exactly, great point.

[Gatotsu77]

I suppose you could hand a new shooter a box of Eley Tenex ($0.38/round) and let 'em blast away a bunch of money, or hand 'em a box of Blazer Bulk ammo (~$0.04/round) and have them work on their technique, have some fun, and not break the bank. My Savage Mark II BTVS does decently well with Blazer Bulk at 50-75 yards, and lets me work on trigger pull, breathing, etc. fairly inexpensively. I've run a few SK Jagd rounds through my rifle, and it definitely seemed to like them.. and I've ordered 500 more for my next couple range trips, but if I didn't have a consistent technique worked up first, wouldn't I be spending more money to shoot crummy groups?

I'm still stuck trying to figure out how a firearm could produce a dime sized group with good ammo at 50 yards, and a 6" group at 50 yards with bulk ammo. My only logical explanation to this would be that somehow the projectiles were malformed, (or perhaps damaged as they were being loaded into the firearm) causing them to wobble in flight, and pattern sporadically. I am a decent shot at best, and I'm confident I could put 5 rounds of Blazer Bulk into a 3" circle off-hand at 50 yards. (and no, I'm not wanting to make this into an internet p****ng contest)

Ultimately, if another shooter decided to mount a scope to their rifle, shoot inexpensive ammo, and produce what some would consider to be terrible groups, but they had fun doing it... is there really ANYTHING wrong with that picture? As nice as it is to make one little ragged hole, or to be able to brag "I can shoot ______MOA all day!" to one's friends... if the shooter is being safe and having fun, isn't that what really matters? I think sometimes we try to impose our own personal standards on others without understanding the context of their actions/choices. My last trip to ASR, the guy next to me was shooting a .338 Lapua at 100 yards. Did I think this was a waste? Sure. Was he having fun doing it? Yup. It was a nice day out, and he was spending time with his son's at the shooting range.

[Dion]

Just thought of a new term: Ammo queens.

Ammo queen (n) - Those who only use the most expensive ammo in their guns

[tozan]

Here is a good comparison of .22 ammo accuracy

[MongooseV8]

My rifle shoots 1/2" groups at 50 yards with blazer. So maybe the question you should ask is why do you waste money on the pricey stuff? Haha giving you a hard time of course. I use some bulk ammo for hunting since they have hp bullets that do decent damage to varmints.

As far as the guys shooting huge groups, there are plenty at my range too. But you have to remember not everyone shoots as good as the next guy. Others are very happy to go out and shoot all day long for $20 worth of ammo and print large groups.

Also the cheap ammo equals cheap trigger time......

[MongooseV8]

Also in my opinion it's silly to spend a quarter every round shooting my 22. For that much money I can shoot my 223.

[triplestack3]

If I am spending 30 cents a round, it will be on .223

[jbush]

You're gonna run into all types at the local range. Last trip, the guy next to me picked up a 9mm pistol, put in a 10 rd mag and emptied all 10 into the dirt about 20 yrds out. There was no target, his friend was on the next bench over with a target out about 50 yds. Figure out the cost of that!

My neighbor is unemployed. He shoots the cheapest bulk he can get (usually I buy him a box when I find it on sale real cheap somewhere) through his 795cause he's not an accuracy person and as long as he can hit cans and have fun he's good with that.

Not every one can or will shoot the same or as good as you. Couple trips back the 2 guys next to me had a .270 bolt gun with a nice scope. They were setting up clay pigeons on the hill at 200 yds and shooting with alot of misses. They ask me if I wanted to try and I got 7 out of 10 with my 17hmr with a mild cross wind. But, we were all having fun.

2 different guys from work. One use to shoot competition pistol and wouldn't be caught dead with cheap ammo. He shoots 100 to 150 rounds at the range. He shoots strictly for accuracy. He goes out about once a month and he's good. The other guy has a preban ar and buys 4 or 5 hundred dollars in bulk ammo and blasts away as fast as he can. When he's shot up all his ammo he won't go back out for 6 or 8 months maybe longer.

The way people shoot doesn't me, but some of the fish stories I hear are a little out of touch with reality. My neighbor claims he gets the unbroken clays left from the shotgunners and sets them on the hill where he shoots and walks back about 150 yards and nails them. Hard to believe he gets 150 yard accuracy with cheap bulk ammo in his Marlin795 with iron sights. And a guy at work, claims his dad taught him how to shoot, as a kid, with a 22 and open sights by setting up cans on the hill about 200 yards away. My eyes are getting older, but even as a kid, just seeing a can at 200 yards would be tough. Could 150 yds really be 150 feet and 200 yds really be 200 feet??????? Guess we'll never really know???????? But, they're marksman in their own minds.

[Dutch3]

Ultimately, if another shooter decided to mount a scope to their rifle, shoot inexpensive ammo, and produce what some would consider to be terrible groups, but they had fun doing it... is there really ANYTHING wrong with that picture? As nice as it is to make one little ragged hole, or to be able to brag "I can shoot ______MOA all day!" to one's friends... if the shooter is being safe and having fun, isn't that what really matters? I think sometimes we try to impose our own personal standards on others without understanding the context of their actions/choices. My last trip to ASR, the guy next to me was shooting a .338 Lapua at 100 yards. Did I think this was a waste? Sure. Was he having fun doing it? Yup. It was a nice day out, and he was spending time with his son's at the shooting range.

Excellent points, thanks for posting them. Your definition of "productive shooting" is likely not the same as mine, nor will mine be the same as the next guy's. The point is that people are out shooting, maybe as a family and enjoying it.

My wife and youngest daughter like shooting the scoped .22 from a rest and flipping the spinner targets at 50 yds. They even keep score. The ammo is cheap, who cares? The time spent is priceless.

[JAGACIDA]

8 to 10 inches at 50 yards? That is almost missing a pie plate at that range. Who is that bad a shooter for that grouping? 3 to 4 inch at a hundred yards just messing around is more credible. I get more enjoyment and trigger time with the cheap stuff. I grew up with just a couple of brands of .22 LR and shot pretty well with what we had. Now I have better equiptment and ammo and I still throw the cheap stuff around.

[CSACANNONEER]

If I am spending 30 cents a round, it will be on .223

Why? Obviously, you don't want to shoot precision rimfire firearms. Hell, at 30 cents per round, you obviously don't want to shoot precision .223 rifles either. There's a BIG difference between the way cheap ammo performs and precision ammo preforms. Once you are a good enough shooter to tell the difference, you'll understand why premium ammo is used by many shooters.

[MongooseV8]

Why? Obviously, you don't want to shoot precision rimfire firearms. Hell, at 30 cents per round, you obviously don't want to shoot precision .223 rifles either. There's a BIG difference between the way cheap ammo performs and precision ammo preforms. Once you are a good enough shooter to tell the difference, you'll understand why premium ammo is used by many shooters.

Well my reloads are better than pretty much anything you can buy in a box. Even if you don't shoot a 223 for a quarter, I'd still rather shoot a 17hmr for the money.